Last year, I was wrong.
I thought the Vancouver Canucks would take home the Stanley Cup, come away virtually unscathed and I would be taunting my friends on how my knowledge of hockey and the NHL is vastly superior to theirs. Come to find out, I came close, but I was incorrect.
The Chicago Blackhawks and their young studs came away with Lord Stanley’s hardware and not the Sedin bros and their teammates who fell to the eventual Stanley Cup Champs. This year, though, things will be different.
Last season the Canucks were hit with injuries yearlong. Daniel Sedin missed 19 games with a foot injury, defenseman Sami Salo missed 14 games with a torn achilles tendon and blue liner Kevin Bieksa only played 55 games. Those are just some of the more important ones in a long list.
Despite the absence of forward Alexander Burrows, who is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum, the Cancuks seem to be in tip-top shape coming into the start of the season.
Despite Luongo not playing with the "C" on his sweater anymore, he will still be looked to for leadership on and off the ice. (Courtesy Rick_Andrews)
With net minder and former team captain, Roberto Luongo relinquishing the “C”, the team will now have a legit leader on the ice. No offense to Luongo or any other goaltender, but captains should be position players who are allowed to argue calls and show their leadership more often on the ice. Right now the front-runner to have to “C” on his sweater is Henrik Sedin, but it’s not a guarantee according to team GM, Mike Gillis.
“No one is a shoo-in,” Gillis said to the Associated Press. “We’re going to take our time.”
The Canucks also added winger Manny Malhotra. At first look it doesn’t seem that significant of a move. But bringing Malhotra in, a player who has never eclipsed the 14-goal mark, will surely get the best chance of his career to do so. With playmakers all around him such as Mason Raymond, Mikael Samuelsson, the Sedin bros. and others, Malhotra may be one of the best signings of the summer.
With camp underway, veteran center Brendan Morrison is hopeful that he makes a spot in the team’s roster.
“You can look tremendous in practice, look like you are head and shoulders above everyone else,” he said to The Canadian Press. “But when the puck drops, and you have to think a little, it’s a whole different scenario.”
If Morrison makes the team, he has the ability, like many other veterans around the league, to provide priceless info to the youngsters that are just breaking out in the game.
If all goes to plan, if Luongo stays consistent, injuries stay away from the team, Vancouver will be making other teams think about how they can be stopped, instead of looking like runners-up.
Ryan Fleming can be reached at fleming.ryanr@gmail.com. He also writes for The Soccer Guys at www.thesoccerguysonline.com.
